The Berry Patch is a place in TN where the Berry Family dwell, abiding in Christ and aspiring to become more like Him day-by-day.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

October 11, 2015: Checkup for Change

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2015 - Day 283

Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of Gordon Mote singing Don’t Let Me Miss the Glory, … declaring the prayer of all Christians to live surrounded by God’s glory in His grace.

Highlight Passage: Colossians 3: 1-2 [NKJV] … 1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
… Setting our minds and hearts as to Christlikeness.
============ Highlight Context – Colossians 3: 1-17 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Checking our lives to put off selfishness and to put on the “Savoriness”
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Reference Passage #1 - Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:30 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s teaching, through Moses and Christ; … and God’s charge from His word to stay healthy and not miss His glory by our selfishness.

Reference Passage #2 - 2nd Corinthians 13:5 [NKJV] … 5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
… Paul’s exhortation to Christians to examine ourselves to see if we’re walking in the faith.

Reference Passage #3 - Ephesians 4: 1-3 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God’s teaching, through Paul, on striving to stay in fellowship with our Lord and walk in worthiness to our calling as Christians.

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Julie Ackerman Link, reminded me today that all Christians should take a “check-up from the neck up” occasionally to see if we are walking worthy of our calling as “Christians.” (see Paul’s calling in Ephesians 4: 1-3) And the Apostle Paul also exhorted us, as Christians, to examine our walk of faith occasionally (see 2Cor. 13: 5) so that, as Gordon Mote sings (linked above), we don’t miss God’s glory in this life.

Today in the ODB teaching, the author, Julie Link, leads her readers (me) to ask/answer several questions from Jesus restatement from the Old Testament to the Scribes and Pharisees [see Mark 12: 30]; and they are these [in conjunction with today’s ODB highlight passage from Colossians, Chapter 3]. Do I love God with all my soul? Do I listen to God telling me who I am? Am I moving away from self-centered desires? (Col 3: 5). Am I becoming more compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient? (Col 3: 12). Do I love God with all my mind? Do I focus on my relationship with His Son or do I let my mind wander wherever it wants to go? (Col 3: 2). Do my thoughts lead to problems or solutions? To unity or division? Forgiveness or revenge? (Col 3: 13). Do I love God with all my strength? Am I willing to be seen as weak so that God can show His strength on my behalf? (Col. 3: 17). Am I relying on His grace to be strong in His Spirit?

I’ll leave it to you to deal, as I am today, with these challenges from God’s word? I’m certainly convicted by this spiritual checkup this morning. … How about you?

My Prayer Today: Oh, … Help me to open myself to Your grace and glory by staying healthy in the Spirit. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.